West Ham United could have solved their striker problem as Jarrod Bowen steps up again
A majority of West Ham United’s summer transfer work was dominated by the search for a Declan Rice replacement and in James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez, that problem has been solved.
The remainder of the window saw the Irons on the lookout for a new striker as they looked to finally add a consistent source of goals to their ranks after Gianluca Scamacca ended his year-long stay in England with a move back to Serie A with Atalanta.
Despite the Hammers’ best efforts, they were unable to bring a new number nine to the London Stadium in the closing weeks of the window and they were seemingly left with just Michail Antonio and Danny Ings to lead the line for the remainder of the season.
But Thursday’s (5 October) win over Freiburg saw Jarrod Bowen lead the line, with David Moyes quoted after the match [BBC, 5 October] saying: “I thought it was good to look at Jarrod [Bowen] in a centre-forward role in a competitive game, with a lot riding on it.
“I thought the [first] goal was a really well-worked goal. A great cross and a terrific header by Lucas [Paqueta]. We took some good things out of the game but we need more variables in attack.”
Bowen is no stranger to playing through the middle of the attack, he did it for Hull City and has deputised at times at the London Stadium and Thursday’s win showed that he has all the skills to be a success for the Irons as a striker, even if it isn’t the ideal solution.
As Moyes pointed out, the cross the 26-year-old whipped in for the Hammers opener was excellent and showed that even when playing as a centre-forward, Bowen will not be afraid to drift into the wide areas should he believe he can help the team.
On the ball, the former Hull man impressed, completing three of his attempted four dribbles and completing all but three of his attempted passes. Bowen also produced an xG for 0.44 with his four efforts but was only able to test Noah Atubolu in the Freiburg net once [Fotmob].
Although Bowen offers a very different outlet to both Ings and Antonio, if he is to continue to lead the line West Ham are going to need to alter the way that they play ever so slightly, as Bowen is not equipped to hold the ball up with his back to goal.
The England international only won one of five aerial duels he entered during the 90 minutes and had the least touches of any outfield player who played the entire game, only getting on the ball 39 times during the contest.
There were enough bright moments in the 26-year-old’s performance to suggest that he can lead the line occasionally again, but if West Ham have aspirations of finishing in the European places again they will need another striker. Especially as Bowen has been in such good form on the wing it would be a waste to move him unnecessarily.
In other West Ham news, Mark Goldbridge has called Ward-Prowse’s exclusion from the England squad a joke